Sci-Tech Library Newsletter

12/21/07

This is a special holiday
edition of the Sci-Tech Library Newsletter. I have dusted this off from last year, repaired
the old links, and added a few new ones. Enjoy!

There are lots of holiday sites on the WWW, but you’ll find more than just Santa here.
These sites sites were chosen for your enjoyment and are of special interest to the sciences
and social sciences, but still, I hope, reflect some of the joys of the season!

Additional discussion of this extraordinary phenomena can be found at
Aurora Explained (http://www.alaskascience.com/aurora.htm).

The next few years should be an era of peak activity, with lights possibly showing
as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. How do you go about spotting an aurora? It helps
to live some place with dark skies, and, of course, your latitude matters, too. But
there are other factors that also come into play. Find hints at
Spotting Auroras (http://personal.inet.fi/koti/tom.eklund/aurora_tiedostot/spotting.html).
If you are lucky enough to live where you can see the Lights, check out
hints on photographing the Aurora (http://www.ptialaska.net/~hutch/aurora.html).

Do you suppose that Santa’s reindeer use the lights as their pathway?

Interplanetary Santa

Speaking of Santa, is he thinking ahead to future generations that may live on
places other than the Earth? Check the exclusive
“Interview with Santa” (http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1999/ast25dec99_1/)
for the answer to this intriguing question.

[New] Want to send a holiday card with an astronomical theme?
These beautiful cards (http://hubblesite.org/gallery/holiday/)
incorporate photos from the Hubble telescope, and can be printed from your home computer.
Or send an e-card from the gorgeous collection brought to you from
Harvard’s Chandra website (http://chandra.harvard.edu/greetings/index.php).

What do you suppose the Martian Santa Claus looks like?

The North Pole

The North Pole isn’t just important because Santa Claus lives there. It is a
region worth study for purely scientific and for economic reasons as well. Find out why
at the
NOAA Arctic Theme Page (http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/faq.html).

Go along on a
radio expedition to the North Pole (http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/1999/aug/990802.northpole.html),
and learn what draws people to do science in this hostile environment.

[New] Your compass, as you know, points north — unless
you actually live near the North Pole. Compasses actually point toward the Magnetic
North Pole rather than toward the Geographic North Pole.
Read about the difference and the effects on compasses (http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/leveson/core/linksa/magnetic.html).

Or check the discussions of the various exploration expeditions to the Arctic
and introductions to the indigenous peoples of the Arctic around the world on the
Arctic Circle page (http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/).
[New] Or listen to
“The Last Imaginary Place: a Human History of the Arctic World” (http://www.will.uiuc.edu/media/aftmag060920.mp3),
an interview with Robert McGhee, Curator of Arctic Archeology at the Canadian
Museum of Civilization.

Greenland is close enough to the North Pole to count as possible Santa-land
in my book! You can get a fabulous free
Yupik Mask Screensaver (http://www.greenland-guide.gl/masks/default.htm).
[New] See
more great Yupik masks (http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/features/yupik/)
and the people who make them.

Reindeer

What would the holiday be without reindeer, or their North American version,
caribou? Watch a video on these beautiful deer called
“Caribou: Struggle for Survival” (http://www.alaska.gov/kids/wildvids.html).
The 160,000 animals that make up the Porcupine Caribou Herd range throughout the
Northern Yukon and neighboring Alaska and Northwest Territories. What are the
effects of global climate change on the herd? How do they distribute themselves
within their range? What is the influence of snow density, wind, and insect
harassment on them? Such knowledge is essential in building computer models to
predict the impact of climate change in the caribou population. Enjoy the
gorgeous slide show (http://www.taiga.net/caribou/pch/slides/index.html).

Most importantly, can reindeer really fly? Check this site from the University of Leeds
for a definitive discussion and some amazing pictures. You might want to
ponder the genetics of Rudolph and his red nose (http://avalon.unomaha.edu/lichens/Genetics%20Problems/Reindeer.htm).

People have been associated with reindeer ever since there were people. See the
lovely drinking reindeer done by ice-age people
on the wall of a cave. Does it look like modern snow art?
Many people around the world still depend on these creatures as a source
of food and as beasts of burden. Their lives are shaped by the lives of
the reindeer/caribou herds with which they live. Meet the
Nenets (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geoguide/nenets/)
and [New]Eveny (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5199713)
of Siberia to see a lifestyle that is very different from your own.
[New] Read and hear about the
Mongolian reindeer herders (http://www.homelands.org/worlds/mongolia.html).
Join the Sami on a reindeer roundup.
Greenpeace offers a pacman-type game
helping the Sami save their forests and herd their reindeer (http://activism.greenpeace.org/eco_quest/)
— click on the orange dot over Scandinavia. The Gwich’in
people of the Yukon have always depended on the Caribou herds. Listen to an NPR story
“Following the Porcupine Herd” (http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/1998/dec/19981228.oldcrow.html).
You can also listen to the National Public Radio story
“Caribou Crossings,” (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/radiox/caribou/index.html)
by reporter Elizabeth Arnold about the Gwich’in people and caribou. How is
climate change affecting people like the Gwich’in (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1518502994444380318&q=%22old+crow%22+caribou&hl=en)?
Do you suppose Santa lives like these peoples?

Reindeer don’t live all by themselves up in the Arctic. What
about Polar Bears? Learn about these reindeer neighbors at the PBS
Great White Bear website (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/great-white-bear/introduction/3348/).
[New] The Smithsonian offers a
fun matching game of Arctic wildlife (http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/game/).
Wonderful
movies and images of polar bears in action (http://www.arkive.org/polar-bear/ursus-maritimus/)
are available from ArkIve. These take awhile to load, but are certainly
worth it — mother bears suckling their young, bears swimming
underwater, and more. Or download the video clips for free and watch them
again and again.

The Holly and the Ivy … and the Mistletoe

What would the season be without wreaths and garlands?
This site at Texas A&M (http://botany.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/gallery.htm)
has gorgeous botanical images — full plant, leaves, flowers, etc.
Do a search on Loranthaceae.

The
holly is surrounded by myths and legends (http://www.paghat.com/hollymythology.html).
The Celts believed that “King Holly” triumphed over “King
Oak” every year at solstice. It is also prominent in Christian and
Asian mythology. Holly is also a
useful and beautiful landscape tree (http://landscaping.about.com/cs/winterlandscaping1/a/holly_trees.htm),
particularly good for sheltering small animals and birds.

How about
growing some crystalline trees (http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2002/crystal/a.html)
as holiday decorations? Or
crystal snowflakes (http://chemistry.about.com/b/2005/11/29/make-a-crystal-holiday-ornament.htm)?
Try these fun experiments to see how chemical crystals grow.

Christmas trees are natural fractals. There are
other Christmas items that are fractals, too.

You may decorate your tree with strings of lights, but have you ever wondered
how these lights work (http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/christmas-lights.htm)?
The custom of
bringing greens into the house (http://www.history.com/topics/christmas)
goes far back in time as people sought symbols of renewal.

It takes a lot of research to develop good Christmas trees. Read about all the
factors that scientists must consider (http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/mktg/feature-christmas-trees.cfm)
— disease resistance, cloning, genetic engineering …

Christmas trees are recyclable. Consumers can locate the nearest recycling
program by visiting the
National Christmas Tree Association (http://www.christmastree.org/home.cfm)
or calling 1-877-EARTH911. You can even recycle your Christmas tree yourself.
There are about 500,000 acres in production for growing Christmas Trees in the
U.S. Each acre provides the daily oxygen requirements of 18 people and helps a
little bit to counteract global warming.

The Star of Bethlehem

Many planetariums present shows on the Star of Bethlehem at this season, but
no matter how hard you try to be careful and well-researched, errors can creep
into the presentation.
Find out what some of the common errors are (http://www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/articles/common_errors_xmas.html)
in the article by John Mosely, program director at the Griffith Observatory.
[New] Mosely’s information can also be
viewed with animations (http://askelm.com/video/real/xmas_star.swf).

You may not expect something as spectacular as the Star of Bethlehem this
year, but to keep track of what you might see in the holiday night sky, check
out the
weekly report of the Star Gazer (http://www.jackstargazer.com/),
whom you may have heard on various NPR stations, or
StarDate (http://stardate.org/nightsky/weekly).

On the other hand, Fermi Lab’s FERMI NEWS has an interesting article entitled
“Santa At Nearly the Speed of Light” (http://www.fnal.gov/pub/ferminews/santa/index.html)
that discusses quite cogently the speed at which Santa must travel to accomplish his
tasks, and whether traveling at this speed helps enable him to slide down chimneys,
as well as other related Santa physics phenomena. More on this important problem of
physics is available in a later article,
“Santa’s World Revisited” (http://www.fnal.gov/pub/ferminews/ferminews00-05-12/p4.html).
[New] How does Santa get up and down those chimneys? There
is interesting physics involved in this problem!
Live Science discusses Santa physics, too. Here is a
further discussion of the physics of flight (http://www.swri.edu/10light/flight.htm).

Besides, if there is no Santa, how can the sophisticated electronics at
NORAD (http://www.noradsanta.org/)
and NASA
successfully track the sleigh progress each year?

Caltech has a wonderful webpage (http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/)
that includes information about the physics of snow, photographs of snow flakes
made to order (designer snow crystals), very detailed information about
photographing snow, and more! Is every snowflake really different from all the
others? Why are snowflakes white? You can find the answers to your questions
at a
snowflake FAQ (http://chemistry.about.com/od/moleculescompounds/a/snowflake.htm).

If you can’t photograph snowflakes, you can catch their patterns on
glass using hairspray. Here are
directions for this (http://www.suite101.com/content/snowflake-crafts-for-kids-a38558)
and other snow science activities.
You can also make paper snowflakes (and stars)
to use as decorations and [New] use this program to
make virtual snowflakes (http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/)
and see what your paper ones will look like before you cut them.

Every Christmas tree has icicles on it — at least the tinsel kind if
no others. The
physics of how icicles form (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060920183504.htm)
was only recently deciphered!

When is Winter, Anyway?

For the exact time of the winter solstice for any year between 2000 and 2009,
check the chart (http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/WinterSolstice.html)
provided by Wolfram. You will also find a discussion of exactly
what the solstice is and why it happens (http://www.windows2universe.org/the_universe/uts/winter.html).

What causes the solstices? The simple answer is the
tilt of the earth on its axis as the earth circles the sun (http://www.factmonster.com/spot/solsticeforkids.html)
complicated by that journey around the sun. Learn more about the complex path of the
earth through space at the wonderful
Analemma site (http://www.analemma.com/).
“Wandering noon” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3239796)
is most pronounced during the solstices. If you think you know the science of solstices,
take this quiz (http://quizzes.familyeducation.com/sun/seasons/55400.html).

Winter Birds

If you are a birder, join the
Christmas Bird Count (http://birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count)
or
Project FeederWatch (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/).
The annual Christmas Bird Count season is here. Birders from across the United
States and from over 30 different countries will take to the field between
December 14th and January 5th to record the birds in their count circles. The
primary objective of the Christmas Bird Count is to monitor the status and
distribution of bird populations across the Western Hemisphere. Since the first
count on December 25, 1900, thousands of birders have helped create a significant
database of information on the abundance and distribution of winter bird
populations. Anyone can participate in his or her local Christmas count. Visit
the National Audubon Society web site to locate a count area near you.

Candles

We don’t put candles on our Christmas trees like they did in the old
days, but there are still plenty of candles used around this time of year, in
Advent wreaths, in candlelight services, and in menorahs, to name a few places.
Did you ever wonder
how candles work (http://home.howstuffworks.com/question267.htm)?
Could you
burn candles in a space ship (http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/index.html?quid=850)?
Would it look different than on earth?
How do those trick candles work (http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingsworkfaqs/f/bltrickcandle.htm),
that you can’t blow out? You can read this discussion to
find out if a candle in a plummeting elevator would stay lit (http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy99/phy99198.htm).
As you can see, different scientists may have different ideas about the answers to your science questions.

Christmas Economics

There is no doubt that the cost of Christmas has a major economic impact.
The folks at PNC Bank have been keeping track of the price trends in their
“Christmas Price Index” (CPI) (http://www.pncchristmaspriceindex.com/CPI/index.html)
for the over 20 years. (Don’t miss the fun games offered at this site.)
If you have a true love this Christmas, better take out a loan …

Christmas movies have a lot of economics in them, and often they have
gotten the economics wrong (http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=209).

[New] Christmas Mathematics

Visit the mathematics in the song
“The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Math is everywhere in our lives,
even in Christmas!

The Chemistry of Christmas

[New] There are a lot of
chemistry projects related to the holidays (http://chemistry.about.com/od/holidaysseasons/Chemistry_for_Holidays_and_Seasons.htm).
You can make fake snow, make glow-in-the-dark snowflakes, and try some Christmas
cooking. Don’t try these without an adult to help you! Use chemistry to
solve the
“Christmas Cookie Mystery” (http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classchem.html#Anchor2).

For some obscure reason, chemists and other scientists seem to like to compose
Christmas carols:
Iona Prep Physics Phun (http://www.ionaphysics.org/library/physics%20songs/Carols.htm),
Chemistry Carols
and
Physics Carols (http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/edse456/apt/activity/physicscarol.htm).
There is even a
chemistry version of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (http://employees.oneonta.edu/helsertl/ChemXmasCarol.html)
— can you find the elements in this story?

At Christmas in 1827, Michael Faraday started a
series of Christmas lectures on chemistry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Institution_Christmas_Lectures).
These lectures show that the interesting relationship chemists have had with
Christmas goes way back in time. The
Royal Institution still hosts Christmas lectures today (http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayContent&id=00000001882),
as do many other institutions. RI Christmas lectures are now broadcast by the BBC.

Can Animals Enjoy Christmas?

Watch the
video of Koko at Christmas (http://www.koko.org/world/journal.php?jID=18)
and see what you think. Koko is a gorilla who has been taught sign language since
she was a baby. (You will also see Koko’s pet cat, Moe.) Some zookeepers are
making a white Christmas possible (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/not_in_website/syndication/monitoring/media_reports/2511789.stm)
for their polar bears in Australia. They think the bears need snow in order to avoid
developing behavior problems.

Turkey

Of course you need chemistry for your Christmas cooking, but you need
engineering, too. When you cook a turkey,
you have to get the heat transfer right (http://www.engineerguy.com/comm/4322.htm).
The Engineer Guy can tell you all about this problem.

Does feasting on turkey make you drowsy? No,
turkey is not the culprit (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4187409)!

Wild turkeys are interesting birds.
Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the
Turkey the national bird (http://www.greatseal.com/symbols/turkey.html)
of the young United States, rather than the Eagle. If you get a parent to help,
you can
try making a variety of turkey calls (http://www.wildturkeyzone.com/turkeycalls/howto.htm).
Or
make a pine-cone turkey (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/thanksgiving/pineconeturkey/)
to decorate your house this Christmas, in honor of these interesting birds.

More Traditional Sites:

For fuller coverage of Internet sites on Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan,
and the other holidays we all enjoy, go to the
Yahoo “Holidays” site (http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Holidays_and_Observances/)
or the Christmas sites chosen by “Librarian’s Index to the Internet”
or follow the
Christmas and other holiday links at About.com (http://www.about.com/).

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this newsletter are those of
the participants (authors), and do not necessarily represent the official views, opinions, or policy
of the National Science Foundation.